Herb Quality is so Important

There are people who for various reasons, such as shipping cost to another country, who try to get a brand other than what we offer. That is fine, We are not trying to just get customers,but ultimately we just want to help people overcome OCD and GAD.

I believe the only way to get good results is if a professional grade product is taken. A poor quality often produces a poor outcome. For this reason, I am including this article in what to look for when choosing your supplements.

A few times when I suggested an herb, people have reported to me that they have tried that very herb with no or adverse results. After an explanation on how herbs companies differ, they usually follow through with the suggested herb and the vast majority have reported back that they have indeed experienced the desired results.

There are many who are in the health profession who are lining their pockets by using people's pain, concerns, and even fears. I'm saddened to say not all of them are in organized medicine. Each of us needs to investigate the herbal company whose herbs we wish to purchase. You can't take mine or anyone else's word who is selling to you.

The following are some suggested points that you might want to investigate:

#1 The companies' dedication to quality control.

What are their testing procedures?

How long are files and samples maintained?

Are testing results available upon request?

#2 The herb companies' suppliers.

a. Where are the herbs grown?

For example, if you take two tomato plants and plant them in different soils, one saturated with the proper nutrients and the other planted in depleted soil, the second plant's fruit will be nutritionally inferior. There are also other conditions such as temperature, length of season, etc. to be considered.

b. When are the herbs grown?

There are a few herbs that the time of year is important when harvesting. There are some that are biannual and the first year's plant is superior.

Still others, such as Ginseng, need to be harvested years after planting.

c. What part of the herbs are used?

Legally, herb companies can put leaves, stems, and roots in a capsule and still market it as 100%. For instance, dong quai, the part of the dong quai that has the optimum benefits is in the root. Below is what I had found in a popular herb supplier's catalog.

Note: the processed pure herb is less expensive than the whole root.

If there are no fillers, why would it cost more per pound in its whole form than when it is encapsulated and production cost wouldn't be involved?

Quantities

ITEM#

NAME

BOTANICAL

Prices

1-4

5-23

25lb

693

* Dong Quai Root " Powder/encap

(Dang Gui)

8.85

8.40

7.55

1-4

5-23

25lb

931

* Dong Quai Root Thin Slices

(Dang Gui)

42.50

40.40

36.35

Yet the powder is 4 times less expensive than the unprocessed root.

When I asked this company why the unusual cost difference they said they would get back to me. After trying several times to pin someone down, I gave up.

d. Are they organically grown?

Almost always when someone does not receive the desired results from a pure herb or has had a bad reaction, it is not from the herb itself but from the insecticide that was used on it. They can not and try not to wash it off. You may be trying to go natural but are putting toxins or poisons into your system. Many insecticides are extremely dangerous.

e. What drying techniques are used?

Volatile oils are lost if the herbs are dried too quickly or at too high of temperatures. Mold and Mildew can develop if the herb is dried too slowly or incompletely.

f. Which variety of the plant is used?

Most plants have different varieties. Each variety has slightly different levels of nutrients. The variety which has the higher amount of active ingredient is more potent.

g. Do they understand potency?

Aged garlic is basically dead garlic, The beneficial part of garlic is allicin. Allicin is the result of two chemicals mixed. If you wait until the level of allicin has diminished you have also waited until the potential for benefit is lessened.

This article is only about herbs. There is another whole article about Vitamins and Minerals and whether they are synthetic or natural, or chelated to the correct medium, etc.

If you get a bottle of herbs dirt cheap it is probably only worth its weight in dirt. That is bad enough but it may also contain things that will hurt rather than help your health. It just isn't worth it!!!

NOTE: There is a booklet published by Nature's Sunshine explaining their quality assurance of which they are very proud (indeed they deserve to be proud).